1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 Hello everyone and welcome back to the Hostel Road Trip Podcast. 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000 The podcast that literally takes its show on the road. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Listen in as James Black and Bobby Dyer, owners of International Travelers House Hostels, 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:18,000 travel around the country to learn about these great locations and incredible people 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:24,000 that come together to provide a unique and exciting experience for travelers from all over the world. 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,000 Welcome back to the Hostel Road Trip Podcast. 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,000 We are still trucking through the southeast on season three. 8 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,000 Happy to be here with Joe Hinman, founder and creator of the Modal, 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,000 which is a new hostel in the second ever hostel in South Carolina, correct? 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Correct, yep. 11 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,000 Thanks for being with us, Joe. 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:44,000 You're welcome. 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,000 And we appreciate you working with our time constraints as we are traipsing through the southeast. 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000 And our next stop is Hostel in the Forest later this evening. 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:58,000 We just finished a great recording with Joe Gill in Asheville, North Carolina. 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,000 And talked about a few of his locations. 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,000 But we're excited to talk with you here as you have another unique situation 18 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:11,000 that can be relative to a lot of the industry listeners of taking a former dentist office 19 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:18,000 and fully rehabbing it, gutting it out, and transitioning it into not only a hostel, 20 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:24,000 but a cool place for the local community to come enjoy themselves as well as some amazing outdoor space 21 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,000 that you're going to be able to use for events and other type of music gatherings and things like that. 22 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,000 So definitely an exciting time for you as I know you've been working on this for many years. 23 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,000 Yeah. 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:41,000 And also an exciting time for Greenville as they've got something cool coming whether they know it or not. 25 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:42,000 Right. 26 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:49,000 So we like to always start off a bit and talk about your personal journey and how you got exposed to hostels 27 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:56,000 and what made you crazy enough to want to try this and passionate enough to keep going through all the trials and tribulations. 28 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,000 So tell us a bit about your hostel exposure and how you got into it. 29 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Yeah, that's a good question. 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:06,000 I tell people you have to be just a little bit insane to want to do this. 31 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:13,000 And for me, honestly, it goes back into a little bit of college career. 32 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:20,000 I was originally a studio art major in college and I realized I didn't want to be a studio artist. 33 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,000 So I decided to pivot and went into the business realm. 34 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000 But I kept art as a minor because that was more of that passion. 35 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:35,000 That was more of what I needed for myself to feel like I had a little bit of value and freedom in my hobby. 36 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:36,000 Yeah. 37 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:45,000 And so in my career as a marketing professional and a designer, I ended up working for an agency and traveling across the U.S. 38 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000 back in 2014 when I moved out of Greenville. 39 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,000 I'm a native from this town. I've been here. 40 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,000 I'm really proud of this town. 41 00:02:53,000 --> 00:03:02,000 But I also realized, you know, in order to personally improve, I needed to get outside of the city I grew up in and go explore a little bit. 42 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,000 So I moved to Denver, actually, and fine city. 43 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,000 When I moved out to Denver, I took a job where I traveled about nine months. 44 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:20,000 I was in Denver, but I was kind of a satellite, if you will, in that sense that I was traveling all across the U.S. 45 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,000 selling products with the NASCAR circuit. 46 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:31,000 So, yeah, it was it was definitely a niche situation where I was slinging sunglasses at NASCAR races. 47 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,000 So that was a really cool experience. 48 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:43,000 Aside from just the job itself, I got to spend a lot of my off time exploring towns and cities and went to about 40 states in nine months. 49 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 So did you know that? Yeah, I was. 50 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,000 And I realized in that experience how much Greenville had to offer. 51 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:56,000 But I also realized how much interest I had in the exploration of starting my own business. 52 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:02,000 And so when I ended that job, I had an opportunity in Greenville to come back. 53 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,000 And so I took a corporate job. 54 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:09,000 And that's when I transitioned back into this town. 55 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:14,000 I realized that there was a major missing component and that was a hostile. 56 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Let me go back, though, when I was in Denver, I loved the city. 57 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:20,000 I loved what Denver had to offer. 58 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:26,000 But I would go away on the weekends to go explore other places and I came across a hostile. 59 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,000 And that was actually my first time experiencing a hostile. 60 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:30,000 I knew what they were in Europe. 61 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,000 I had heard about them. 62 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,000 I had friends who had stayed in them, but I had never done the European hostile. 63 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,000 And so the only experience I had was an American hostile. 64 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,000 What was the name of that one? 65 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,000 It was the Bibby, actually. 66 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:42,000 The Bibby, OK. 67 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,000 And I just I actually had recommended the property. 68 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,000 I hadn't even stayed there. 69 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:48,000 I just found it online. 70 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:54,000 I recommended it to my brother and his wife and they took an anniversary trip there, which you would never think, hey, let's go. 71 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:55,000 You know, you may not. 72 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:56,000 Yeah. 73 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,000 So but they came back and they were like, Joe, this is one of the coolest places we've ever been to. 74 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,000 You've got to go check it out. 75 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:16,000 And so I ended up going there a couple of times that summer and just really fell in love with the experience of hostiling as an American and and blown away that I could stay in Breckenridge of all places for such a low cost. 76 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:22,000 You know, and and yet still meet people from all over the country and the world and all age groups and all that stuff. 77 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:28,000 So when I came back to Greenville, I had no intention of starting a hostile. 78 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,000 I just knew that I wanted to start a business at some point in my career. 79 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:38,000 And I just happened to have a friend called me up and said, you know, hey, I know you're moving back to Greenville. 80 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,000 I'd be interested in getting commercial real estate. 81 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:46,000 And I thought, that's not really my thing, but let's talk. 82 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:57,000 And it became my thing because after we start talking, I realize, you know, OK, maybe I don't want to be a landlord, but maybe if we could find a property and we can make it something I'm really passionate about, then I'd be into it. 83 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:58,000 Yeah. 84 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:03,000 And we were sitting in the kitchen and I just said, oh, my God, Greenville needs a hostile. 85 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 And that was the first thought. 86 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000 And that was the seed, if you will. 87 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,000 This bigger idea. 88 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,000 And and he immediately was like, yeah, yeah, oh, my God. 89 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:15,000 Yeah, that's absolutely. 90 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:25,000 So from that conversation on, we started reaching out to other locals who were kind of in the small business realm and the creative realm. 91 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:31,000 Those who I would think would stay at a hostile, those who might have stayed in hostels elsewhere and just kind of get a feel. 92 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,000 You know, am I crazy? 93 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Is this really something that we need or is this just something I want? 94 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,000 You know, and so that's how it started. 95 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:48,000 And then, you know, here we are four years later and I'm sitting in a property that we've been working at making fit that need for almost a year and a half now. 96 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:49,000 So that's really cool. 97 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:57,000 And I think that's a unique but really inspiring instance that most people would find their experience abroad. 98 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,000 They would say, like, oh, we should bring this back to where we're from. 99 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:07,000 And I always think that is a really cool experience when someone finds it and then tries to take it back to their hometown. 100 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:27,000 Yeah. To try to, you know, expose that experience that they've found maybe to the locals and the younger people and expand their horizons, but also expand the community's horizons by giving this portal or this base for people that are artistic, creative, international travelers that digital nomads. 101 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:28,000 Right. 102 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,000 And now they have got a place to stay. 103 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:41,000 And I've often found in my experience that the community a lot of times might be resistant upfront, but they end up benefiting greatly from the actual hostile be coming in. 104 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,000 So it's cool that you actually got that exposure in America. 105 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:49,000 So it shows that we're continuing to progress this industry and showing that it can be done. 106 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:58,000 But as we saw at the American Hostel Conference, we were both at last week or earlier this week. 107 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,000 It's so cool at that conference to see people that are trying to open up. 108 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:15,000 It's not necessarily people that are industry savants or investors that are trying to get in because they see the margins and the benefit of it, which is there and can be inspiring in a way. 109 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:33,000 I really like to watch how a lot of these larger hostile conferences are. And that's why I really like Vicki's conference, because you have this wide range of people that are going there and seeking to get some tutelage, further inspiration, information on how to get it done and yourself and another person. 110 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:46,000 I've seen one from Cream City in Milwaukee. Another good example, someone who's had the battle of going through years of ups and downs and close calls and disappointments and landmines. You don't expect. 111 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:58,000 But share a bit about your experience of the challenges you met of trying to bring the first ever hostile to Greenville and only the second hostile in South Carolina. 112 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,000 So what was that process like? 113 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,000 There was a lot of research initially. 114 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:11,000 It was a little disconcerting when you start the process. Obviously, everyone goes to Google right off the bat. 115 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:17,000 But when you Google and there's nothing coming back and you're like, is there a reason no one's opening? 116 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Should I really should this? Should I be cautious? 117 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:31,000 But it wasn't actually until I went to the conference last year that I felt this overwhelming piece of I'm not crazy. 118 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:43,000 I came back and I told David and my partner, I said, I've never been somewhere where I met people who are doing exactly what I'm doing. And I felt finally validated. 119 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:54,000 You know, the process has been, yes, four years. I mean, within within the initial conversation in the kitchen, it was two weeks by the time we were looking at properties. 120 00:09:54,000 --> 00:10:01,000 We were we were I was aggressive. I wanted I wanted to open something in a year. I mean, I was like, I can do this. 121 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:08,000 And especially since we were looking at properties that quickly, I thought, oh, my God, this can happen so fast. 122 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:17,000 And and with that, I also kind of started wrangling excitement within the community because I just I wanted it to happen. 123 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:25,000 So I was kind of speaking it into existence in that sense. And I might have, I guess, in hindsight, I would say I might have stirred the pot a little too early. 124 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:29,000 Yeah. Yeah. But not necessarily in a regretful way. 125 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:38,000 I think when we started looking at properties, we looked at mainly three main sites before we ended up here and to look. 126 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:45,000 And for those of you who are about to start a hostile, you know, the biggest thing I would say initially is don't get your emotions involved. 127 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Yes, because I was especially as a creative. 128 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,000 Yeah, you see something and you paint the walls before the foundation is built. 129 00:10:53,000 --> 00:11:01,000 You know, you just you can imagine it and I would go home and I whip out SketchUp and I would do these elaborate drawings of what it could be. 130 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,000 You know, and I don't think that was a bad thing. 131 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:10,000 But at the same time, it was we had to go through feasibility studies with the city. 132 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:17,000 Then you had to sit down and talk with engineering about both structural and everything from utilities. 133 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:28,000 And the first property we're looking at was pretty much in the heart of the city. And once you add bathrooms to the quantities we wanted to add, that that impacts infrastructure. 134 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:37,000 And those are the kinds of things me as a marketer and a creative never had considered like the number of toilets and showers you have impacts the water. 135 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:48,000 You know, like so for me, it was a major learning curve and we spent probably six to nine months on that one property. And then it was there's no way we can spend that kind of money to flip it. 136 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:54,000 And then it was OK, let's pivot and look at some other properties. And so we did that two or three times. 137 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:02,000 And then we realized, you know, I also am not sitting on a nest egg. I'm not, you know, someone who's got deep, deep pockets. 138 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:17,000 And so for myself and I think that's the norm, I would say, for most of the owners I've met is a lot of its bootstrap, a lot of its organic and a lot of people open when they they they open on a shoestring budget with the intent of growing it to be something more. 139 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:30,000 And I totally respect that. And for us, we wanted to be creative in the different ways to approach funding, which is the biggest like that would be my biggest hurdle by far. 140 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:38,000 You know, you can you can convince somebody to need something. But if you don't have the money to make it happen, it doesn't matter. 141 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:48,000 And so for us, it was when we were looking at those properties, making sure that we kept in mind our own feasibility from a financial standpoint. 142 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:57,000 And we had a property under contract that again, I walked in and I was like, oh, my word, this is it. 143 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:02,000 You know, I was I literally yeah, I would have bet money on it. 144 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:20,000 And again, we did feasibility. You know, we had a partner, an investor at the time who was really, really supportive and extremely gracious and acted more as a mentor through that almost a year of due diligence on that property and spent a significant amount of money just testing the soil. 145 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:30,000 Another thing I never would have thought, you know, things that you just you just start throwing money at. And so it it could have definitely derailed me. 146 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:36,000 It could have made me extremely depressed and felt like, you know, why am I doing? And trust me, I had this. 147 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:47,000 But it was it was not only my partners in the in the process that were helping, you know, keep me my my mental state healthy, but it was also really the community. 148 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:54,000 You know, I did reach out to a lot of people in the community. We did what's called an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. 149 00:13:54,000 --> 00:14:00,000 And we did that in order to make the community feel like they could be part of what we're doing. 150 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:05,000 And one thing we talked about a lot at the conference is the stigma of hostile that term. 151 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,000 Like, you know, people don't even know what it is. 152 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:20,000 And and we had the same situations. We'd walk into a meeting and we'd say that term and the person would look at us either with a scowl or a question mark and be like neither faces. 153 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:25,000 Yeah, exactly. Especially when you're looking for permission. 154 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:31,000 And so I ended up realizing our biggest benefit is the community. 155 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,000 And David and I are both very passionate about keeping the community involved as much as possible. 156 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,000 Not just the creative community, but the community at large. 157 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,000 We want to make sure the the neighborhoods love what we're doing. 158 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:51,000 We want to make sure that the other natives who have been here 50, 60, 100 years and their families are still living in the same homes. 159 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:59,000 We want them to know, like, even though what we're doing may be progressive or different, that we are doing it for them and with them. 160 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,000 And and that was our way of saying that. 161 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:06,000 Sure, we raised some money out of it and it helped with some of those upfront costs that I never had thought about. 162 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Yeah, but it was also a mechanism to really help educate what the hostile means and what that can mean to the community. 163 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:19,000 Yeah. And I was just thinking back to earlier today with our episode with Joe Gale over in Asheville. 164 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:30,000 And he talked about in his early trials and tribulations, you know, those nights when he would just literally laying there crying, you know, like, yeah, you're just in moments of desperation at some points. 165 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:38,000 And I think it's so sad to think of all of the people and good people, creative people, people that would have made great hostels that gave up. 166 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:51,000 You know, you think about all of the over the years either because of the stigma or just the overall frustration or the opposition of the community or the people in the permit or zoning or city ordinance department. 167 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:55,000 You know, for listeners out there, you're not alone in that way. 168 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:01,000 Right. And, you know, sometimes when you feel that element of am I crazy? Is this possible? 169 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:09,000 That's a big reason why we're doing this podcast is to give a kind of a resource for people to listen to almost for support and comfort in that way. 170 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:13,000 Because we went through the same thing out in San Diego where we went through several buildings. 171 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:18,000 And I remember the same thing you're talking about. You walk in and you feel like the sunlight just. 172 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,000 You know, you're floating through like this is an ethereal experience. 173 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,000 Yeah, you know, you're already designed and then you're right. You're measuring shit. 174 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:31,000 And then some guy comes up to you and says, like, oh, and by the way, this window is too small. 175 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:39,000 Yeah. And because of that, you're like, well, when do to like, and you can't touch it because it's historical or it doesn't have a da da da da. 176 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:43,000 Or you need 12 parking spaces and there's only two. Yeah. 177 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:58,000 So I think it's important that you do keep on trucking and then a lot of ways in our experience of being on the road and doing this podcast is that so many times people then just like you said earlier today in retrospect, you're like, oh, thank Lord, that building didn't work out. 178 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:04,000 Right. Yeah, for sure. Thank goodness these didn't work out because I ended up in the best one I could have. 179 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:17,000 You know, so I think that's a very valuable for listeners to hear. But now we find ourselves finally in the building. And we're sitting in here and you know, it's so exciting to see the bones of the house exposed. 180 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:33,000 The idea and the flow is put together. You've got tape on the floor to line out the reception. You can see where all the outlets are for the bunks and how you've gone through the place to create this not only cool hostile experience, but also a cool community center. 181 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:46,000 If you will, for so many other things to happen. But now maybe talk a bit about you're in the building now. Now you've got your baby. You've got your girl and now a whole nother war battle comes to play. 182 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:55,000 And you had mentioned one, for example, where because of some, you know, obscure rule in your town post 2014 now you need sprinklers. 183 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:10,000 Twenty grand you didn't expect that you would have had. You know, what are some of the other, you know, struggles and, you know, curveballs that you've experienced within this place that has, you know, maybe delayed or made it more difficult than you thought. 184 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:20,000 Well, first off kudos for you guys doing the podcast because if I had been able to listen to this two years ago, I would have been like, Oh, now I know what I'm getting into. 185 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:28,000 Maybe I wouldn't have done it though. I'd probably be like, ah, they convinced me. Don't do it. Just stay in that cubicle and suffer. 186 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:44,000 But yeah, no, it's so when when that house or that other property, it wasn't a house, it was a fully commercial property when that fell through and my investor at that time looked at me and said, Joe, this isn't the right property for you. 187 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:53,000 I mean, I was devastated. I mean, I was if if I had let my emotions come over me, I would have cried. I would have just lost it. 188 00:18:53,000 --> 00:19:02,000 But I walked out of there a little bit more just like fired up. I'm going to prove. Yeah. Yeah. And then two days later, our contract was up and I had no buildings. 189 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:14,000 I was like, oh, no, he proved me wrong. But it was my partner at the time. And now my my landlord partner called me. 190 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:23,000 I called him and kind of was begging him and asking him to purchase this building. And he he too, and I like very wise and just patient way was like, you know what? 191 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:29,000 That's probably not the right place for you. But I have another one. And he said, why don't you come check this out? 192 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:34,000 I'll I'll bring sandwiches and we'll sit down and talk. And I was like, man, you're such a good, like, 193 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:39,000 a convince of like why I should go with this. He's like, I'm not going to try to convince you. That's not my intent. 194 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:45,000 I just want to I just want to talk. And it's like I was so low, 195 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,000 I guess, emotionally at that point, too, that I just was like, you know what? 196 00:19:49,000 --> 00:20:05,000 This is all I've got. This is the only chance I have left. And so walking into a building that's an existing dentist office and you're you're walking the halls and you see X ray signs and you see like weird stuff that you have no idea what it does. 197 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:12,000 And you're you're trying in your mind to erase those things, especially when you're kind of still a little bit but heard about the last. 198 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:21,000 Yeah, like go around that you're like, I don't even I'm not even happy that I'm in this place just to let all that go again, that emotional trauma. 199 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:28,000 And and so and of course, I was eager just to latch on to something else. 200 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:39,000 I think again that once he cast the vision for what could be in this place and we talked and we had that that just breather session, 201 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,000 I saw it. I saw it and I saw it more completely than I had. 202 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:50,000 And I realize I really did see the other negatives of the former property as a limitation. 203 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:56,000 And I at that point, like you said, you realize you're happy. Yes. That you dodged that bullet. Yeah. 204 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:00,000 And I think a lot of it had to do with shame, too. 205 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,000 Like you feel you've told you've told your whole community you were going to do this thing. 206 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:11,000 And you even took money like you even you convinced people. And and I I felt guilty for that. 207 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,000 Sure. But then responsible. Exactly. 208 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:19,000 And so there was a lot of people asking after that change. 209 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,000 They're like, so, you know, how's the building coming out? Oh, well, we didn't get that one. 210 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:29,000 We're moving to another one. And so once we were into this space, 211 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:34,000 I think first off, it was what can we do the least to make it work? 212 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,000 Again, cut costs. Better as you go. Yeah. 213 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:41,000 Let's let's just you know, this one, it's already got 10 rooms. 214 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:45,000 It's already got like a great floor plan. It's already got a lot of bathrooms. 215 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:49,000 Because it's a dentist office. You got sinks in every bed or every thing for. 216 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,000 Yeah, it's already kind of segmented in the ways you want it. 217 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,000 And so and and you asked, you know, what were some of those hurdles for us? 218 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:04,000 It was because there was no category within the city ordinances about a hostel. 219 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,000 So you have to find where you fit. Right. 220 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:11,000 And so for us, it was bed and breakfast was the most palatable. 221 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:17,000 And and yet we still had to figure out some variances to that code to fit what we were doing, 222 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:22,000 because even bed and breakfast ordinance doesn't look at your business plan. 223 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,000 This is one of my biggest frustrations with city code is they don't look at your business plan 224 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:30,000 to see how your business functions. They look at your categorization. Yes. 225 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,000 And even though we're nontraditional. 226 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:39,000 And so, for instance, with parking, bed and breakfast is only allowed at one parking space per guest room 227 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:43,000 and then two for the live in manager. And I'm like, well, wait a second. 228 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:49,000 I'm going to have potentially 30 guests in this property. Five parking spaces is not going to do it. 229 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:55,000 You know, and it was that kind of conversation where we had to go back and forth and be like, you know. 230 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:01,000 Yes, we put it on paper as this, but can we can we explain that it really is going to function this way? 231 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,000 And the functional part is what I had to constantly fight for. Yes. 232 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:13,000 So that it really maintained the vision. And for us, weird things like a state. 233 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,000 Bed and breakfast can have 10 bedrooms in South Carolina, but within our city, we can only have five. 234 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,000 So I thought, oh, perfect property. We've already got 10 rooms. 235 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:28,000 No, no major like architectural drawings or changing of walls and studying up and on. 236 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:37,000 No. So we had to pretty much once we realized that we were limited by that, you know, again, this is where a really good partner comes in play. 237 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:41,000 Someone who's willing to do it right and do it right the first time. 238 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:48,000 And he was like, you know, let's let's sit down with architect. Let's discuss this. And so we started redrawing. 239 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:54,000 I mean, I probably drew the floor plans 15 times just to make it work, but also to make it the best. 240 00:23:54,000 --> 00:24:06,000 You know, you really the nice thing, too, is we've got the flexibility that we're not held to a lease right now that our investors have been really patient and given us that flexibility. 241 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:12,000 And that's another reason why if you've got the time, take it. Don't rush to open just to be open. 242 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:22,000 The numbers obviously matter in the sense that you want to start making money to pay for this. But if you open premature, you get bad reviews, it's all hospitality situation. 243 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,000 If you want to make sure that you open with your best foot forward. 244 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:31,000 And so we gave ourselves the time to do a good floor plan that we were happy with. 245 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:40,000 And I mean, I would think I was done and then I'd walk it. I would come in here and I would literally walk for hours just walking it, thinking, what's going to go here? 246 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,000 And even even down to the furniture. And then I would be like, no, I want this here. 247 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:50,000 And then I'd run back to David and be like, wait, can we can we change it? We haven't done the work. 248 00:24:50,000 --> 00:25:00,000 And he would he was flexible, you know. And so and even once contractors came in and I saw something going in that like wiring, like you're talking about power outlets. 249 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:09,000 If you want something to be specific, you have to be there. And that's another challenge is I was working a full time eight to five corporate America job. 250 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:18,000 While I'm having contractors in my property making changes and I'm like, you know, and I'd come back and I I felt like I was, again, a little bit anal. 251 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:24,000 But I was just like, I want it done right. And I need it done specific way. Yeah, yeah, understandable. 252 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:36,000 So I going back to the property itself, I think the biggest hang ups in this is I from what I've heard across the country at the conference and from other owners is terminology. 253 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:43,000 Terminology, making sure that you educate the city on what a hostile really is and go into those meetings with examples. 254 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:53,000 Yes, go in with examples that you want to emulate, not just any example, because some hostels you could put in front of the city and they'd go, we don't want that. 255 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,000 Some hostels, you know, they'd be like, that's amazing. And you want to end to be quite fair. 256 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Actually, the city, when I presented initially, they were all about it. Loved it. And I thought we got them. This is great. 257 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:11,000 But then it doesn't trickle down into the apartments. It doesn't trickle down into code enforcement. 258 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:16,000 It doesn't trickle down into the person you're seeing every day. Yeah. 259 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:24,000 And so it's really the most important key is communication and documentation, making sure that you keep track of this conversation. 260 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:29,000 You have emails to validate. And it's not because you're trying to be antagonistic. 261 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,000 It's because you're trying to be a good business person. Exactly. 262 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:43,000 Because I think it's often a misconception. A lot of times your city council member who's a politician wants to tell you yes, wants to appear pro-business, wants to make everyone happy. 263 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:48,000 Correct. But then when you get down to the departmental person that has to put their name on the paper, they don't want to sign it. 264 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:54,000 Exactly. And they'll push you off to another department. And no one really wants to be held responsible if it goes wrong. Right. 265 00:26:54,000 --> 00:27:02,000 So that is a great piece of advice of connecting the dots for them to show them like, oh, no, well, the city councilor said this or the chief zoning guy said this. 266 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,000 So now I've got this email from him or this letter from him or I've even had it. 267 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,000 No, I've got this voicemail and I'm going to play it for you right now. 268 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:15,000 You know, make them listen to it or show them a text. And I think that's a great way to keep your paper trail. 269 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:26,000 Yeah, because even when you and I've had this experience personally, we had properties that we looked at that didn't work out, but we had gotten some type of concession from the city that they agreed to. 270 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:32,000 Yeah. And we were able to pull that back out like, well, on this property that we didn't actually open, but you did say this was OK. 271 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:37,000 And we're still in the same city here. And you'll kind of corner them in their own day. 272 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:44,000 And they're not expecting that persistence a lot of times from a hostile person because they're thinking you're some hippie or some, you know, artist, you know, that's going to go through. 273 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:50,000 And David, David is very adamant about the due diligence on our end to prove to them that we're willing to do the work. 274 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,000 We're willing to show you that we did the research. We, you know, we went and found what we could. 275 00:27:55,000 --> 00:28:01,000 But in some instances, either the code was so ambiguous or it was just confusing. 276 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,000 And you needed someone on their end to interpret for you. 277 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:14,000 Yeah. And so we would come even with our architect or engineer and say what we felt like it stated and what we believe we were able to do. 278 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:18,000 And they would appreciate when you've gone through and you've done the homework. 279 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:25,000 You've spent the time to inspect that. And so that's the way to build, I guess, some rapport with that. 280 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:34,000 Yeah, I agree completely. Well, so we've gotten to the point of now that we are building out this experience, we've got it coming possibly sometime by this summer. 281 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:39,000 Looking like by next fall, for sure. So we're going to take a quick break here for our sponsorship. 282 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:49,000 But when we dive back in, we're going to hear more about the modal experience from the guest perspective and also what Greenville has to offer for travelers coming through of all sorts. 283 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:55,000 So stay tuned for more hot topics from South Carolina's second hostel. 284 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,000 We hope you're enjoying this episode of the Hostel Road Trip podcast. 285 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:09,000 We're taking a moment now to talk about a great service called Worldpackers.com. Worldpackers.com is actually how I got my start with the Hostel Road Trip podcast. 286 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:16,000 Worldpackers is a great service that connects travelers looking for a place to stay in a new city with the hostels who need their skills. 287 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:21,000 You could do anything from house cleaning to reception to media and marketing and so much more. 288 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:28,000 With a reasonable fee of $50 a year and a little bit of courage, you could find yourself anywhere in the world. 289 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:34,000 For more information, just go find Grandpa Carlos surfing on the west coast somewhere between California and Mexico. 290 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,000 If you're having trouble finding him this way, he might be taking a siesta on his surfboard. 291 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,000 If that's the case, scream to the heavens, Grandpa Carlos, we need you. 292 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,000 And he'll be sure to answer the call. 293 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:54,000 But if all else fails, just check out Worldpackers.com. That's W-O-R-L-D-P-A-C-K-E-R-S dot com. 294 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,000 And now we bring you back to your regularly scheduled program. 295 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:04,000 Welcome back to the Hostel Road Trip Season 3 already. I can't believe it. It's just been flying by. 296 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:20,000 We are in Greenville, South Carolina in our second to last episode of Season 3 before Mark, Needham, and I go jump into a hot sweat pit down at the Hostel in the Forest and let out about a week's worth of drinking and raging on the road. 297 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,000 I feel like Slash and Axl from Guns N' Roses. 298 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:29,000 And we are back with Joe Hinman, founder, creator, spiritual advisor of Modal. 299 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:42,000 And we want to talk more about now a little less industry shop talk and a little bit more about tourism, backpackers, digital nomads, and all the great travelers that are going to be able to come through here and the experience they're going to have. 300 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:54,000 Now, right off the bat, what I thought was cool when you were bringing us in is that we had a little bit of a compartmentalization within the building so that you'd have private guest space in their own space to know they're safe and secure to enjoy themselves. 301 00:30:54,000 --> 00:31:01,000 But you also have an idea to have a space for the community to come in and enjoy the place. Tell us a bit more about that. 302 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:21,000 Yeah, so like I was saying earlier, a community is a huge part of what we want. And with Modal and what Modal exists to do, it's always been an intent to make Modal kind of the artistic creative hub of the city, so that if you're a guest coming from out of town, and you want immediate entrance into that creative culture, 303 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:46,000 which you're most comfortable in as a creative, we would be that place for you. And so the intent is to provide space both for the locals in the lobby area and the reception area where they can have a beer on tap from a local brewery, they can have coffee, you know, we've got some really great coffee roasters in our area, and give a space for that mingling to happen. 304 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:53,000 A lot of hostels are antagonistic, or not necessarily antagonistic, but closed off to the local community because of... 305 00:31:53,000 --> 00:32:07,000 Yeah, because I feel like, again, if you really want to educate, you got to bring them in. And it's not even if it's not into the building itself, there's ways to bring food trucks around the property, have outdoor venue opportunities and... 306 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,000 You talked about barbershop maybe. 307 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:24,000 Yeah, you know, work with other local creative business owners to give them a space that they can, you know, build more of a name for themselves, almost like an incubator space where they can afford to come cut here, but they may not be able to have their own storefront yet. 308 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:29,000 Give some of these new creatives a platform to really spread their wings. 309 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:47,000 It's almost the perfect marriage of experiences, if you ask me, because so many travelers will come in and Alaska Hotel concierge. Where do the locals go? Little do you know, unless you've worked in the hotel business or the restaurant business, those concierges are paid off by the restaurant people to send them to the tourist places. 310 00:32:47,000 --> 00:33:00,000 And so you're never really going to get a straight answer. Also, another common thing is that those hotel people don't want to tell you where the local spaces are because they don't want to see you afterwards. So you have that divide going on. 311 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:14,000 So it's so cool when you have these models of a hostel popping up that are community centered and a guest walks in that's a digital nomad or international traveler, and they say, where do the locals drink? 10 feet away buddy, they're in here already. 312 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:23,000 So from the local perspective, what more exciting things that have a little bit of flair, a little bit of variety, a little bit of spice in life and have some different people coming into town. 313 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:33,000 Just besides the people that you drink with every night or hang out with all the time. So then that draws in those local people because you have this world coming to you aspect things going on. 314 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:44,000 I love the marriage of the two in those ideas. But another thing that we've seen traveling through this is southern area, southeastern states is the music. 315 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:55,000 Yeah, so cool how much of a profound influence the music has on the community. And you were talking about housing bands and things like that. Tell us a bit more about that. 316 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:11,000 So this again comes to finding a good partner who's got different passions, but then play well to what you're doing too. And all along I was focused on more of the digital nomad, the creative, the designer photographer who's coming through my town and to do work. 317 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:27,000 But, you know, David is focused on another demographic and that's the musician and he loves his festivals. He loves local bands. He loves it because one of his best friends has a band. 318 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:45,000 So he's always looking for ways to support that. And most recently he's opened his own music venue, which plays really well to what we're doing here is we want to make sure that we'll probably be one of the only venues that can say, hey, look, we'll host you in our space to perform. 319 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:53,000 But we also host you overnight. So we've got it all covered. You don't have to worry about finding lodging. You don't have to worry about the stress of being on the road. 320 00:34:53,000 --> 00:35:01,000 We really want bands to feel like we've got that turnkey experience. It's going to cause them to want to come back and play with us. 321 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:12,000 But also for a band to stay in the hostel, it gives them a chance to meet other people, other bands, other creatives that who knows what could come out of that too. 322 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:25,000 And if you're a guest to that's a really cool thing. If like you saw this band player, then you realize that next morning at breakfast, like, holy shit. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that's a really cool mesh that you have going on right there. 323 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:33,000 And then when you put into play that you're surrounded by so many cities of influence that are known as meccas of music like Asheville and Nashville. 324 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:44,000 So if you put yourself on the map as a place that they can stop into when they're on the road, I'm sure you're going to get more and more acts that are interested in staying and popping in and doing the exchange. 325 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:53,000 And that turns my attention to the next really cool part and unique part about this property. All your outdoor space. Yeah. How many acres? Yeah. Yeah. 326 00:35:53,000 --> 00:36:05,000 Immediately there's about six. That's huge. Right. It's so much cool outdoor potential that you literally could run in a festival, have all these different events and outdoor space to it. 327 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:14,000 And do you have any plans or ideas on how you're going to like put those events into play or is that kind of still this raw form? It's definitely it's it's in the works. 328 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:25,000 That's kind of again that's David's baby is that the overall kind of development plan of creating a space within the city that that cultivates all of those components. 329 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:36,000 And he's very passionate about keeping Greenville green. Yeah. But still having other concepts, whether it's retail or commercial come to complement what's happening here. 330 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:47,000 So modal is really kind of that first major player in this specific area. Nice. And yeah, for the for the short term, while that's basically all that cleared land just sit in there. 331 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:58,000 It's going to be ripe for any kind of festival. Have you thought about any type of outdoor accommodations like teepees, yurts? We are open to it. 332 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:10,000 I think I mentioned at a conference to one thing I want to make sure we protect is the fear factor. We start popping up tents and like village by the city may feel more commune. 333 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:17,000 Yeah. Yeah. So I want to kind of prove our reputation before we start adding those accommodation types that smart. 334 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:28,000 But we're totally open to but exciting for you that as you establish and grow, there's room to grow. Right. Because that's another thing that a lot of operators were running to is that, oh, my God, I nailed it. 335 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:39,000 This works. It's great. And I am turning people away all the time. And that's often a lot of times when you'll see a second place open up and take some of that wind that your momentum should be yours. 336 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:50,000 But I definitely can see as I was walking around as you guys are setting up all the gear, you know, I could see the food trucks. I can see the music venue. I can see the community coming in. I could see the people staying here. 337 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:58,000 You know, you could have yoga retreats out there. You could have so many beautiful things that just raw potential out there to land that if I were you, I'd be super excited. 338 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:03,000 And if I were Greenville and potential backpackers coming to Greenville, I'd be excited to see that. 339 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:13,000 Now, as far as, you know, the backpackers options within this place, what type of room setups do we have and what are the price ranges going to be? 340 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:19,000 So we that was one thing I really wanted to ensure was a variety of options. 341 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:26,000 As you saw, we have a four bedroom dorm. We have a six bedroom dorm. We've got a 12 bedroom dorm. 342 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:37,000 And we will have designated male only and female only. But then our largest dorm will be coed. So you've got an option for everybody based on preference when it comes to gender categorization. 343 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:51,000 And then you've got one private room once we open the potential of adding a second. So some some people specifically probably the older demographic aren't as accustomed to the idea of hostile. 344 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:57,000 And so they may not want that shared room. So I was very adamant. I wanted to make sure we always had a private room option. 345 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:07,000 And if it's booked, it's booked. But at least we had it. Yes. And then you can always encourage them to try a dorm room or encourage them to experience what real hostiling is about. 346 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:21,000 Exactly. And so I we can sleep about 28 guests and that I feel like is kind of that sweet. We talked about sweet spot. I did not want to be a big hostile. 347 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:35,000 I did. I never wanted to be over 50. I knew that that's a different line. But I just I wanted to really protect the intimacy that you get with a smaller property and the boutique of that experience. 348 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:46,000 Obviously, it helps with cost. You know, I'm paying for less sure everything. But at the same time, I feel like I'm still being able to achieve what I set out to do. 349 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:56,000 And I personally, as the owner and operator, want to be able to name everyone who stays in my property. You know, I don't want to feel like 30 people checked in. 350 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:01,000 I never got to say hi or meet any of them. And I'm at breakfast in the morning and I don't know who's sitting across from me. 351 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:09,000 I want to be able to feel like I have the ability to have that personal touch point when they check in. And so keeping it under 30 really allows for that. 352 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:20,000 It's an amazing difference when you cross that line. And as someone has experienced it, as we started with an 18 bed hostel and then now our biggest one is 130. 353 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:27,000 And I almost have like a panic attack when I'm there because sometimes I don't even know all the staff anymore. That's horrifying. 354 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:32,000 I used to hire everyone. And I used to make pancakes for all the guests. And I knew all of them by name. 355 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:40,000 And it can have such a drastic effect on your reviews, your occupancy, your morale, your experience, your feng shui. 356 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:46,000 Everything goes in lessons and diminishes as you climb that number up. 357 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:54,000 And I am just such an advocate of the 50 bed and less hostel model as a person that's experienced it for a while. 358 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:59,000 So I think you hit the nail on the head as far as number there. Now, what about price range? What are we going to be looking at for bunks? 359 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:06,000 So with our property, I don't love the term postal. Yeah. 360 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:14,000 I definitely have put a lot more energy and time as a creative into the experience. 361 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,000 And I think people are willing to pay for an experience. They are. 362 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:28,000 And so not for the sake of gaining revenue, but for the sake of sustainability, our property price point will probably be for the private. 363 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:35,000 Like for the private room, that's going to fluctuate based on market. To be honest, I still want it to be more affordable options. 364 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:40,000 So I'll always swing to the lower end of what the market's willing to pay for the dorm rooms. 365 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:52,000 It's probably going to be in the 40 to 50 a bed per night, which is not outrageous anymore because you did say the word postal and you have a lot of these larger hotel brands and venture capitalists. 366 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,000 And they just have so much money that they can pump into it. 367 00:41:55,000 --> 00:42:07,000 And now you find it very common to see bunk prices in cities 60, 70, 80 dollars a night, which as an industry person who's been in it for a while, that was unheard of five, 10 years ago. 368 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:11,000 And it was more like 25, 30, 35 was the range. 369 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:25,000 But I will agree with you that as more millennials and more Americans are getting into it, an American will pay extra for a little bit more of that comfort, a little more of that security, a little more of that cleanliness. 370 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:33,000 And you can actually, I think, break through a ceiling when you do that, because if you were to just run a bare bone operation that's very slim line, 371 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:42,000 that backpacker is kind of disappearing a bit where it was I want as little as possible so I can pay you as little as possible. 372 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:47,000 That model in America doesn't work very well if you want Americans. 373 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:55,000 And I think a lot of us that are getting into this industry are getting into it because we want to expose it to the American demographic and we want them in here. 374 00:42:55,000 --> 00:43:01,000 So if we're going to do that, we've got to play to our demographic and that's going to make it nice or hostile. 375 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,000 And I think it is worth it to put the extra money in. 376 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,000 And I think that the guest demographic will happily pay for it. 377 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,000 So I think you're on the right line there. 378 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:16,000 And that's the biggest component is the quality that if you're going to if you're willing to put it into upfront building a space that's clean and safe. 379 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:21,000 Those are my two big things because, again, that perception issue. 380 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:35,000 We're all collectively as an industry trying to heal what's been broken in the sense of perception. And to do that, I feel like you have to really put your best foot forward and invest in some things. 381 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:48,000 We specifically as a brand are really passionate about the technology component, making sure guests feel like they have easy access to what they need, but that their belongings are safe and secure and that they feel safe and secure. 382 00:43:48,000 --> 00:44:16,000 And so we've got gone above and beyond what may be required or may what may be what works or even what's necessarily expected in some cases from those who have hostile across the globe by putting in like key card entry and using tools like being able to scan your phone rather than your key card to really target the demographic of the millennials used to those tools used to that functionality expects it in a sense. 383 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:29,000 And and then really encouraging the safety component so that the community understands that, you know, we're not a brothel. We're not some frat house. We're not. We're not willy nilly. 384 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:52,000 We're just doing, you know, allowing whoever and whomever to come in in the sense of like that that local struggle with the halfway house kind of feel. And and I felt like targeting a very specific audience, especially that digital nomad who may be a career based individual who has the income, but is still willing to look for an experience. 385 00:44:52,000 --> 00:45:02,000 It's got costs by only paying 50 bucks a night instead of going to a hotel where they're paying 100 and and giving them something that, quite frankly, they can't get anywhere else. 386 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:23,000 You know, they they can't have that experience. And so David hounds me on details, details, details. And I agree 100 percent that it is all in the details. And if you can demonstrate that you have that guest's experience as the forefront of your mind when they're checking in, they're not going to blink. 387 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:38,000 They're paying 40 to 50 bucks a night. They're happy to pay for it if they can see it reinvested into the product. Exactly. It's when you feel like you're getting scammed. Right. I'm paying too much for this. Right. And as long as you put it into your product, you stand behind your product and which I know you will. 388 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:57,000 You know, then that guest will happily pay for it. Now, in closing, what does modal mean? So modal has several meanings, actually, from a definition standpoint, it comes from the realm of transportation. So modal or modality is moving one thing from one place to another. 389 00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:14,000 So think of like a railroad to a barge to an airliner. Yes, you're taking shipments and you're putting them on different modes of transportation. Okay. And so it's this idea that things are constantly in motion. Yes. And so our symbol or icon is kind of a wheel or a hub. 390 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:21,000 But it plays the idea that I want to be the hub of the creative culture. So it's got kind of a duality. You're the modal of Greenville. Exactly. 391 00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:33,000 And and we're always in motion, you know, things may look different when you come the second time I may have new furniture, I may, you know, sell the artwork that's on my walls, I may have things that are different. So that's exactly. 392 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:43,000 And that's why our slogans visit often because we want you to come back. We want you to reexperience that the room accommodations will always be the quality that you expect. But the experience itself will be different. 393 00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:59,000 That's cool. I like that. That's what modal means. But it also plays into modal as a type of fiber used in linens, which is our industry hospitality. Yeah. It also is a term used in music. So it plays to all the different facets of our business. 394 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:10,000 That's a great brand. It was a really, really good encapsulation of a very big vision. Cool. Oh, no, that's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for your time. 395 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:28,000 And we greatly appreciate it. And we're inspired to see that you didn't give up and that you are bringing in South Carolina's second ever hostel. And for you listeners out there, keep Greenville on your map and keep the modal on your radar, because this place is going to be a badass experience. 396 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:41,000 And you can't miss it. So stay tuned for more episodes. We're heading to the hostel in the forest next. And from there, we truck on into the Southwest season four. Until next time.